Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Oh, MJ's been a pill popper for a while according to rumors/reports. You can't have that many nose jobs and not be in a lot of physical pain. I'm sure he took other things for anxiety/stress considering what his life has been like the past 7 years or so.

I am deeply saddened by his loss. The world media made him weird regardless what anyone said. He looked feeble a week ago on EI at an interview for his upcoming London concert and I was wondering why.

RIP Michael. The world has lost a musical Genius and Humanitarian. They say God keep those whom He loves, but He forgot that we love him too. Blessed Be Michael. You now dance and sing for your Creator! My prayers to his family and loved ones.

Wonder who the next three will be? Ironically someone mentioned Elvis, who I like to remember as the suave cool guy back in the day as opposed to the fat peanut butter and bacon eating guy when he died. Same goes for Mikey, he was cool back in the thriller days , but then all hell broke loose!

I will definitely remember him as the cool and handsome disco prince of Club 64 with a tux and kinky Afro dancing in front of a mirror ball, asking us to "relax" our minds, "lay back and groove" with his....

yeah, im definitely going through a never knew what we had until it was gone moment. he was beyond weird and amazingly talented. BET did a michael marathon. wow, that man has done a shitload of extraordinary stuff and was an awesome humanitarian.

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, my favorite sone was Rockin Robin. Something that we have not mentioned is Michael Jackson's help in with Ryan White's cause. The Song gone to soon. http://blog.danceruniverse.com/blog/story/2009/6/25/20119/7552

He drew attention to HIV/AIDS, and helped motivate many things that have happened in this disease. It is a true loss. He is gone to soon..

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin Coolidge

Last night while driving down to Miami almost every station was having a marathon of MJ music. Typically, I would have changed the station at the sound of a Michael Jackson song. This time, however, I found myself singing along.

Each of his songs truly is a masterpiece. He's definitely the Mozart of our era.

I read somewhere he underwent and passed an intensive 4.5 hour physical after announcing his tour in London. I don't understand how someone who's addicted to opoids could pass such a physical. Especially at the age of 50.

I read somewhere he underwent and passed an intensive 4.5 hour physical after announcing his tour in London. I don't understand how someone who's addicted to opoids could pass such a physical. Especially at the age of 50.

I guess I am the rain on the parade. Yeah, I liked his music but I tend to agree with everything Katt Williams, the comedian, said about the man. Now everyone is running out and buying his music, no thank you. If it was Janet, I would be more upset. What gets me is Michael acted like he was ashamed of his heritage and was trying more and more to look like either Diana Ross or Elizabeth Taylor. If it was Prince, I would be devestated.

I was converted way back during the Purple One's 1999 days, back when people thought HE was the weird one. I always have some Prince's music in my iPod but I don't remember the last time I uploaded any of MJ, maybe the occasional Jacksons' tracks from compilation of 70s or Motown's hits.

Well, we can expect years of MJ sighting and stories of fake death and that he's well and hiding in the Middle East to come...

I don't know that his attempts to alter his appearance indicate unhappiness with his heritage. A lot of people vary their natural appearance, by tanning light skin, lightening dark skin with makeup, straighening curly hair, curling straight hair, dyeing hair to colors not found in nature, lipstick and mascara, padding, etc. Michael Jackson just took it a little too far. I read in one article that they'll need an EPA permit to dispose of his body.

mj strove to break color lines. he also always surrounded himself with other folks of color and never denied his heritage. for the record, he always said he was proud of his heritage.

yes, he took things too far. it is up to him to deal with this. i still respect his not so outwardly black ass for his contributions to music and the way he made me feel. ive been kicking my leg and doing the eee hee eee for a minute now.

if their was an ounce of him ashamed to be black, it was as much society's fault as his own. we all know he did not have a normal childhood or adult life. i hope he is at peace.

the supposed issue with MJ skins was called Vitiligo and Loss of Skin Color a condition in which white patches develop on the skin. Any location on the body can be affected, and most people with vitiligo have white patches in many areas of the body.

Causes of VitiligoMelanin is the pigment that gives the skin its characteristic color. Vitiligo is caused by a loss of pigment in the skin, due to destruction of pigment-forming cells known as melanocytes. The exact cause of the destruction of the pigment-forming cells (melanocytes) in the skin is not known. One possible explanation might be that the body's immune system destroys the cells, as in other autoimmune conditions. Although vitiligo affects all races equally, it is more noticeable in dark-skinned people.

Risk Factors for Vitiligo Vitiligo affects up to 2% of the population, and it is estimated that two to five million Americans have the condition. In most cases, vitiligo develops early in life, between the ages of ten and 30 years. Ninety-five per cent of those affected will develop the disorder before age 40. Both men and women are equally likely to develop vitiligo. Vitiligo may run in families; those with a family history of vitiligo or premature graying of the hair are at increased risk for the development of vitiligo. Other risk factors that increase one's chances of developing vitiligo include having autoimmune diseases, such as autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's thyroiditis).

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin Coolidge

I will leave it to the more informed to write books and essays about that topic but IMHO the African American musicians that truly break color lines are those that achieved in their own musical style .. like Marvin Gaye with "What's Going On", a number of classic albums by Stevie Wonder in the early 70s ("Innervision" etc..) and "Sign of the Time" by Prince... I guess people will look to those and say they truly change the course of popular music/culture, in particularly the perception of black musicians..

MJ will more likely be remembered as the one that changed MTV, corporation-dictated music trends with "event albums" that were marketed with overproduced music videos and carefully timed releasing of singles to milk all their worth..

In retrospect you gotta say he did try too hard to break "color lines".. having Paul McCartney and Eddie Van Halen as musical partners.. and only when R&B, hip hop etc have taken over the mainstream he brought in folks like Teddy Riley and even his own sister in the 90s to reclaim some "blackness", but even by then no one was really taking him seriously as a leading force

Well, before anyone wants to burn me at the stake just remember opinions are like assholes, everybody has got one. And to me, he seem to want to change anything on him that was black to white. Yeah, he may have had the skin condition but what about his nose? Now come on, yeah I can see making it smaller because back in the day he had a hoover but his shit was damn near pointed enough to pop a balloon.

But everyone seems to feel sorry for the man when it seems like he was abusing painkillers. Now everybody running around buying up his music. Shoulda did that when he was alive to help get him out of debt. The ones I feel sorry for is his kids.

I've always appreciated Michael Jackson's hits but his music never really spoke to me. His personal life never interested me, so he was always on the fringe of my musical radar. He was very talented though.

Michael Jackson's death has been overshadowed by the death of a coworker yesterday. Glenn was a single dad and told his 5-year-old daughter that she had 5 minutes to start getting dressed. He went into the bathroom and when he didn't come out and didn't answer she tried to open the door but it was locked. She knew enough to call 911 and when the paramedics arrived they found him dead. He probably had a heart attack or aneurysm. He was 40.

Very sorry about your co-worker/friend.. Not to hijack the thread, and beside its tragically pre-mature nature, that's definitely the way I would like to go through. Just drop with little pain.

Back to MJ.. that Deepak Chopra, was he a physician of his at some points? Spiritual adviser or just friend? If he was MJ's doctor wouldn't it be in some sort of violation of confidentiality to talk so openly about a patient's supposed addiction to painkillers?

Michael Jackson's death has been overshadowed by the death of a coworker yesterday. Glenn was a single dad and told his 5-year-old daughter that she had 5 minutes to start getting dressed. He went into the bathroom and when he didn't come out and didn't answer she tried to open the door but it was locked. She knew enough to call 911 and when the paramedics arrived they found him dead. He probably had a heart attack or aneurysm. He was 40.

it's has been a hard week and this is about the saddest thing I've read. My prayers for the little girl. god bless her.